Armies of Liberation

The AQAP CF in Abyan continues:

Yemenat: New enhancements to the supporters of al-Qaeda in Abyan

According to local sources in the city of Jaar, in Abyan province, south of Yemen, the city witnessed the arrival of new fighters and additional military reinforcements to support the armed groups that are believed to belong to al Qaeda.

The sources pointed out that the military buildup, which includes a large number of fighters who are nationals of various Asian, African and combat equipment, and arrived to the province of Abyan by sea in the coastal city of Shakra, which is still controlled by armed elements in their hands since the fall several months ago. (Read on …)

Its really sad. The kidnapping of the three French aid workers, the dust up with the French ambassador and other incidents, after France expressed support for the revolution, is reminiscent of the two pedestrian suicide attacks on the British ambassador’s convoy after the UK made statements about the uprising in the south. An insider says the attack on the US Embassy was conceived by the security forces. While this all may seem a stretch for those who think it is a normal government, the Saleh regime’s utter lack of morality and rationality does not preclude the deployment of Islamic extremists as a extension of foreign policy as it is already an extension of domestic policy, for example deploying al Qaeda during the Saada War against the Houthis and residents.

Maritime Security Asia: [NMS: It seems that the mystery surrounding the whereabouts and status of the French yacht has been solved, sadly with a tragic outcome, with EU NAVFOR playing a key role in the interdiction of the attackers and rescue of the remaining crew. There are still rumours of another French yacht going missing at around the same time, although these have yet to be completely confirmed and have been denied by Yemeni authorities. The story illustrates the confusion that can result with pirate attack reports as well as illustrating the desperate measures some pirate gangs are resorting to.]

MARSEILLE – Pirates who attacked a yacht in the Gulf of Aden killed its French skipper before abandoning it, a close to the family said Sunday, the day after the dead man’s wife was found unharmed.

Christian and Evelyne Colombo’s family was informed overnight that the 55-year-old was killed during the attack and his body thrown overboard before their catamaran was found abandoned on Thursday, the same said.

A German warship found the couple’s catamaran, the Tribal Kat, adrift in waters off Yemen on Thursday after it broadcast a mayday appeal for help.

There were signs of struggle, including bullet holes and blood stains, and no one was on board, prompting commanders from the EU’s anti-piracy naval task force Atalanta to launch an air and sea search for the attackers.

This may or may not be true or pure propaganda or the distortion of an event that occurred. The Yemeni government claims it thwarted a maritime suicide bombing attempt:

Yemen Online: Suicide maritime attack foiled: SANAA — Yemen’s navy has foiled a suicide bomb attack on one of its warships off the coast of the Al Qaeda stronghold of Abyan province in the south, the defence ministry said on its Internet site on Sunday.

“A small high-speed boat tried to approach one of our warships on Saturday at around 21:00 hours local time (1800 GMT)” off Abyan, navy chief Rear Admiral Ruiss Abdullah Mujawar was quoted as saying on the 26sep.net site.

The vessel continued on its course despite warning shots being fired, and “naval forces then fired at the craft, which sank along with its occupants,” he said.

The defence ministry said the small boat had been filled with explosives, but gave no information on those thought to have been behind the failed attack.

The shipment of weapons is par for the course. Yemeni weapons shipments to Somalia are a leading cause of its instability and have been ongoing for years. The last shipment doesn’t necessarily show that AQAP and al Shabab are linked up in a new level of coordination; what it likely shows is that UN sanctioned weapons dealer Fares Manna is back in business. Its a very complicated relationship, check my category “Proliferation” or search “Fares Manna” for the chapter of the story about the shipload of Chinese weapons brought into Yemen with forged documents from the Defense Ministry. See Evaluating relations between Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda for a review of the rhetorical and physical support between al Shabab and AQAP, including the arrest of Warsame. For earlier, see the 2006 arrest of eight westerners in Yemen (all later released) who were smuggling weapons to the fanatics in Somalia and the connection of Awlaki to those persons, who are hopefully all under the microscope now. Rahm’s report below seems to be from Sun Times: U.S intercepts ship suspected of carrying weapons for Al-Shabaab

Terror Free Somalia: The U.S Navy has intercepted a Somalia bound Yemeni cargo ship carrying weapons suspected to be for Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militia.Somalia consulate in Yemen said the cargo ship en route from Yemen to Somalia coastline ended up in the hands of U.S Navy at the Gulf of Aden.The Somali consul Hussein Hajji Ahmed said U.S navy opened fire on the ship after the ship captain defied Navy orders to stop the vessel but later surrender to the United States navy.

He added that the ship is suspected of carrying military supplies for the Al-Shabaab militia in Somalia, a clear indication that Yemeni Al-Qaeda supports the militia in terms of weaponry.Ahmed said investigations into the issue are currently underway.He urged the Somali government to boost security along the country’s coastlines and seek supports from the neighbouring countries in making sure that no arms are illegally smuggled into the country through the coastal areas.The U.S has recently received critical information suggesting that Yemeni based Al-Qaeda network provides weapons and other military necessities to Somalia’s Al-Shabaab insurgents fighting the Somali government.

LAT

Reporting from Washington— Al Qaeda’s powerful branch in Yemen has provided weapons, fighters and training with explosives over the last year to a militant Islamic group battling for power in Somalia, according to newly developed American intelligence, raising concerns of a widening alliance of terrorist groups.

Leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen also have urged members of the hard-line Shabab militia to attack targets outside Africa for the first time, said U.S. officials who were briefed on the intelligence.

The information, they said, comes in part from a Somali militant who was captured en route from Yemen to Somalia and interrogated aboard a U.S. warship before being arraigned in New York on terrorism charges this month. Further intelligence was gleaned from detailed digital files found at Osama bin Laden’s hide-out in Pakistan after he was killed in May. (Read on …)

A bunch of overdue AQAP links and articles: First, business as usual: Sadiq al Ahmar said 16 of the recent al Qaeda escapees are living in villas in Sanaa, and other al Qaeda members are in the counter-terror forces, Republican Guard and Central Security. Its typical; we listed names of some of the AQ in the CT forces some years ago. Its well documented that other al Qaeda terrorists receive no-show salaries from the army or intelligence forces. The regime spun it as “rehabilitation,” until they needed a deniable proxy. The US dismissed them as “militants” but now the US is droning “militants” with no clear affiliation to al Qaeda or any transnational terror organization.

Yesterday, in an interview with Al Sheba, about what promoted the power of “the existence of al-Qaeda in Yemen”, Shekh Sadiq al Ahmar stressed that the so-called al-Qaeda elements are out of the house of the presidency and they exist in an anti-terrorist forces and the Republican Guard and the Central Security, noting that 16 members of Al Qaeda leaders who fled from the prison of Al-Mukalla month the past, “present in the villas in the capital alone to them the system in it.” He added, “The system uses the al-Qaeda bogeyman to extort from the Gulf, and promoted himself to America.”

Second, Shabab fighter Ahmed Warsame, arrested in the Gulf, was brought to the US for trial. Warsame has ties to both AQAP and al Shabab and met Anwar. Awlaki has been pimping al Qaeda to the Somalis since (at least) 2006 when the eight westerners were arrested trying to smuggle weapons to Somalia from Yemen. The enmeshment between al Qaeda in Yemen and al Shabab was politically inconvenient prior to the rev and is an expedient sound bite now.

NYT 7/10: In his remarks on his plane, Mr. Panetta said there were greater dangers to the United States in Yemen. “There’s no question when you look at what constitutes the biggest threat in terms of attacks on the United States right now, more of that comes from Yemen and people like Awlaki,” he said. He added that in Yemen, “There are a number of operations that are being conducted not only by the Defense Department, but by my former agency to try to focus on going after those targets. I would say that’s one of our top priorities right now.”

Fox News: The Somali terror suspect transferred this week to a New York City federal court spent “significant time” with American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, a U.S. official told Fox News. (Read on …)

NATO disputes the claim saying there’s no evidence; Yemen has many islands including Perim, which is in the middle of the Bab al Mendab. Somali pirates have long received logistical assistance, intelligence and other support from Yemeni authorities and citizens.

Euro news: LONDON (Reuters) – Somali pirates have been using Yemen’s remote Horn of Africa island of Socotra as a refuelling hub enabling their attack craft to stay restocked for longer periods at sea and pose a greater hazard to shipping, maritime sources say.
(Read on …)

May be??? Piracy has been facilitated from Yemen for a long time. The presence of Yemeni pirates is little compared with the intelligence assistance, logistical and supplies from Yemen.

Red Sea piracy may be going multinational – U.S.
Reuters; LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) – Piracy in the Red Sea may be becoming a “multinational” business with Yemenis joining Somalis in the lucrative crime, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. (Read on …)

No link, sorry, it kinda looked like a news site but then it didn’t. The most senior foreign fighter in al Shabab was the now deceased Yemeni AQAP Rajah abu Khalid. Update: Rahm has the same story, unsurprisingly. Update 2, Garowe: Officials with the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) claimed that a Yemeni-born foreign fighter named Rabah Abu-Qalid was killed during heavy clashes Sunday in Mogadishu…The group has close links to Al Qaeda has brought foreign fighters to southern Somalia to provide training with military tactics, explosives and suicide bombings, which were alien to Somalia’s anarchy before 2006. The foreign fighters in Somalia number 300 to 1,200, according to Somali and U.S. intelligence estimates. Most are from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Yemen.

The militant commander, who was named Rajah Abu Khalid, a Yemen national, was reported that he was seriously wounded with 13 other fighters and was taken to an Alshabab medical facility in Jowhar district, 90kms from the north of Mogadishu.

Martyr Rajah Abu Khalid, succumbed in Jowhar hospital last night, he died several hours later when he was wounded said an Alshabab sources in conditions of anonymity. (Read on …)

In “The Privateers of Yemen,” Foreign Policy mag thoroughly plagiarizes my earlier article Yemen sells Coast Guard services and Navy personnel to highest bidder. I never have a problem with people using my database, that’s why its here. It would be very simple to close it off to the public and I don’t. But rewriting my article, using all the same links, without contacting me is just tacky tacky tacky. If she had written to me for additional insights, like everyone else does when they want to use my research, then I could have informed her of what Chapter 2 was (ie- what happened after I published the original article) but unfortunately she missed it entirely, and her article is incorrect or at least not current. Oh well. But at least the story is out there, again.